I just had the new Nook in my hands about an hour ago. Very impressive device indeed. Extremely light, complete touch screen, and a complete, simple user experience makes this the top reader for me at the moment. It has very impressive battery life - up to 2 months! It is not ideally optimized for web surfing, but it nevertheless provides for a very smooth experience. It is much shorter and a little wider compared to the first generation nook.
At this moment I don't know all the ins and outs of the device yet, but I have quite a lot of experience with e-readers and I played around with it for about 10 minutes. I was very impressed. I also think that it comes at a very reasonable price at $139. Let me know if anyone wants to know more about this device.
Hermann
About a week ago I bought myself the new Nook. I have decided to share what I think about it, since I always believe that user reviews are way more helpful than going to a manufacturer's website for instance.
ReplyDeleteWhen I bought my first Nook, in the end I made the decision to for it (instead of the Kindle) because of the operating system that it uses. It runs an Android operating system, which is a Google open source product. For me this seemed like an advantage in more than one way:
1. Since it is a Google product, it has some things going for it. Google has proved that it can make great mobile operating systems. One of Google's biggest projects is to make more and more digital books available to the public. Obviously, digital content that is made available by the same company that creates the OS, should be readable by that OS. I simple thought that Google's internet and information reach is wider than that of Amazon.
2. Since the OS is an open source product, the Nook can be rooted (legally) so that people who want to learn about the operating system are free to do so. I figured this would provide many more developers to create applications for the Nook which again would enhance it and extend its functionality.
I realize that this second reason doesn't pertain to everyone, but I just wanted to mention it.
About the new Nook:
It is very small compared to the first generation. It has great battery life (about 2 months without WiFi on). The touch screen is not as responsive as that of an iPad for example, but you should not expect it to be since these devices are not intended to be tablets. The fact that it does not have 3G connectivity might bother some people, but personally I feel that it is not necessary.
One thing that I don't like about the Nook (actually about the Barnes and Noble online store, but I guess they come as a package) is that the online Nook store is not very advanced in terms international reading material and I feel that this is one area in which the Kindle might be a better option, even though Amazon's international collection is not humongous either.
I read a lot of international material so this is a big deal to me. This is where the eBook formats that this reader supports comes into play. The Nook supports the .epub format, which is the most popular ebook format on the internet by quite a margin. This obviously gets rid of the problem to a big extent, and I have actually come across many different international eBook websites and they all provide .epub.
This is what I have against the Kindle. It has its own format AZW which is not as widely available as that of the Nook.
In the end, it will still come down to preference. These are both really great devices and I don't even think the Nook is better or worse. I simple think that it is better for me.
I have to say that I am really eager to see what Amazon will offer in their first tablet!
Thanks,
Hermann